1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an adjustable jaw wrench of the type including a sliding jaw having a rack gear rigid with respect thereto for moving the jaw in response to rotational movement of a rotatable gear or finger wheel in meshing engagement therewith with the wrench including a movable lock component which can be manually manipulated for simultaneously lockingly engaging the teeth on the rack gear and the teeth on the rotatable gear thereby locking these two components rigidly with respect to the body of the wrench and rigidly with respect to each other thereby securely locking the wrench in adjusted position to enable repetitive use thereof on a nut, bolt or the like with the component being laterally movable in a transversely extending recess or opening in the body of the wrench.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Adjustable jaw wrenches of various types have been known and used for many years with such wrenches including a rack gear unitary with or integrally connected with the movable or sliding jaw of the wrench with the rack gear meshing with a rotatable gear, finger wheel or the like to move the sliding jaw in relation to the stationary jaw when the rotatable gear or finger wheel is rotated. One of the problems which exists with this type of wrench is the tendency of the wrench to change its setting during use which may be due to the hand of the person using the wrench coming into contact with and rotating the rotatable gear or pressure exerted on the jaws of the wrench causing rotation of the rotatable gear to some extent thus enabling the size of the wrench to be effectively enlarged. Such maladjustment of this type of wrench results in the wrench not properly fitting the bolt or nut causing it to sometimes slip off of the nut or bolt thereby resulting in injury to the hand, particularly the knuckles, of the user, and also rounding off the corners of the nut or bolt. Some attempts have been made to provide lock devices for locking the adjustable wrench in adjusted position. The following U.S. patents are exemplary of the development of the art in this field of endeavor.
U.S. Pat. No. 765,059 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 984,280 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,056,275 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,265,925 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,648,519.
While the above patents include locking structures, they generally are somewhat difficult to manipulate and serve to lock only a single component of the movable components of the wrench.